"Sparking! ZERO" Official Announcement, Pre-, & Post-Release Discussion Thread

[Rinsankajugin]

Realistically, I think Spike is either understaffed or have their resources allocated to other things, like a possible Switch 2 port. I find it extremely hard to believe it would have otherwise taken them a full quarter of a year to churn out just 8 characters, half of which are transformations with some copy-pasted moves.

There's also the fact that Spike doesn't just do arena fighters anymore, they've also worked on various other games like Danganronpa, Steins;Gate, The Somnium Files, and Mystery Dungeon. It wouldn't surprise me if the devs were split between different projects during Sparking Zero's 6-year development cycle.

That said, I'd still at least like some of the locations already in the game's files flipped into selectable stages, it wouldn't take THAT much dev time considering how fast modders were able to do it.

[WittyUsername]

At this point, I’m not even sure there’s enough interest left in this game to justify a possible sequel.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

At this point, I’m not even sure there’s enough interest left in this game to justify a possible sequel.

I think there will always be interest in the Tenkaichi brand, however, I don't think it will sell as well as this game did at launch due to many gamers feeling cheated by this one.

[Cold Skin]

That said, I'd still at least like some of the locations already in the game's files flipped into selectable stages, it wouldn't take THAT much dev time considering how fast modders were able to do it.

Now THAT is hard to understand: the stages are here, in the data, AND they're playable, with the player actually experiencing what it's like to play in them during story chapters!

And needless to say, having stages such as the Kaio Shin World of Universe 10 or the Tournament of Power intact arena would make for extra stories in custom battles to create, something on which the devs count for players to create their own entertainment.

It's there, it's put to use in part of the game, the only thing missing is adding an access in the stage selection menu for all game modes!
And THAT can likely be created and squeezed in the game's data in a patch in less time than it takes to rebalance even just one move from any character!

I see litteraly no excuse not to make them available, and they should have been available to begin with since they're THERE, ready to use AND actually even already used.

[Scsigs]

Realistically, I think Spike is either understaffed or have their resources allocated to other things, like a possible Switch 2 port. I find it extremely hard to believe it would have otherwise taken them a full quarter of a year to churn out just 8 characters, half of which are transformations with some copy-pasted moves.

Glorio and Kuu are fun. Haven't spent much time with Panzy yet.

The complete lack of English VAs is nothing short of baffling. I don't think the devs are at fault for that, but it definitely speaks to Bamco's lack of enthusiasm for the game post-launch. No excuse not to be on the ball with this while it was in progress.

DLC 1 was good from a roster standpoint, and 3 will hopefully be better. This pack was pretty mid overall.

It's either they're understaffed, or they're poorly allocating the resources they have access to. Thinking that 8 characters (most of which are reusing other character models as their bases & modding them to match the versions of the characters needed) takes so much time that they can't also make new arenas, or story DLCs is utterly ridiculous.

I just remembered that there's currently a SAG voice actor strike relating to video games. At least SOME of the main DB VAs that live in LA are SAG members, so I think that may be what it is. The dub of the game that happened before the strike started wouldn't have been affected. Although, that wouldn't explain how DLC 1 had the VAs return, but they may have gotten the ok from the SAG to do it for the ones that are in it if they are, or they may have been recorded before the strike as well. And for DLC2, if they had English voices for the first pack, I have no idea why they don't for this one. Hopefully the VA strike will finally end soon so they can get some for a future update.

They put out what quickly became the fastest selling game in the franchise, only to pretty much abandon it for seemingly no reason. There must be something going on behind the scenes that we're not aware of. I wonder if this is related to the rights issue going on.

Oh my god, shut the fuck up on shit you don't understand at all. This has NOTHING to do with any rights issues. The dub of the game wouldn't be affected by that either way. Stop propagating that mindset when we have no confirmation on it. If anything, that would affect the Japanese side of things & stop the game from existing at all, not the English side.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

Oh my god, shut the fuck up on shit you don't understand at all.

All contributions should be polite, accepting, and written properly. Please think about your contributions before making them.

Be respectful of your peers. Your opinions must be expressed with civility. Rudeness (including slanderous words) and personal attacks against members — of this community or otherwise — will not be tolerated.

With that out of the way, I was talking about the post-launch support in general. Xenoverse 2, FighterZ, and Kakarot all got better support than this game has gotten so far. Considering it's the best selling game in the franchise, one would think they'd want to capitalize on that success, but so far they haven't. I'm not saying the rights issue is to blame for sure, but it's hard to ignore whenever something seems off about the franchise nowadays.

[tinlunlau]

Had a rough time trying to get the dlc characters to work after downloading that 5.6gb update but I finally got it to work. I just forgot to log in thru my Japanese PSN since I am normally logged into my Canadian PSN account.

[MCDaveG]

I must say, that how dissapointed I am with the lack of stages and other content beside the new characters, I really enjoy them. Very well crafted and my god, I really love the Mini Vegeta!

Also, quite happy with how they resolved the update of Mini Goku. Even tho I got stuck for few minutes, trying to figure out why I can’t choose or transform into SSJ form, even going to check out the empty shop before reading release notes.

Bit sad that Goku just got slightly updated with comparison to Vegeta, makes it half the fun and half the possibility of being letdown to guess and see what characters will be released in the last DLC.
I had some hopes for at least one Tamagami and SSJ3 Goku and Majin Duu. Not sure about Pansy, another missed oportunity as they could’ve included her vigilante outfit like they did with Piccolo’s RR disguise.

Characters are mostly great and fun, but the lack of other content like accesories, costumes, at least 3! custom battles… Nada. I am not even hoping for a new stage anymore.
I don’t know, am I spoiled by other DB releases in recent years?

Looking forward to DLC 3, I hope it comes fast, hence I can transcend the time to get to Daima arc in Kakarot in summer.

[Scsigs]

Spoiler:

Oh my god, shut the fuck up on shit you don't understand at all.

All contributions should be polite, accepting, and written properly. Please think about your contributions before making them.

Be respectful of your peers. Your opinions must be expressed with civility. Rudeness (including slanderous words) and personal attacks against members — of this community or otherwise — will not be tolerated.

With that out of the way, I was talking about the post-launch support in general. Xenoverse 2, FighterZ, and Kakarot all got better support than this game has gotten so far. Considering it's the best selling game in the franchise, one would think they'd want to capitalize on that success, but so far they haven't. I'm not saying the rights issue is to blame for sure, but it's hard to ignore whenever something seems off about the franchise nowadays.

1st, you keep making statements on things you genuinely either know nothing about, or you haven't thought through entirely. My words were out of frustration rather than being a personal attack. And, don't quote the rules at me without recognizing when you may have also violated the rules at points. You're a lot of the time very frustrating to see talk about the various things I've seen you talk about, just my observation.

2nd, the franchise probably seems "off" because we're in the beginning of the post-Toriyama era. We JUST had the last thing he directly worked on finish airing &, due to Toriyama always working on things by writing as he goes along, we don't know what he wanted to do next outside of a few base ideas of what he left behind & we don't know if he wrote down anything or discussed them with anyone at Toei or with Toyotaro. Toei and Toyotaro now need to pick up the pieces where he left off, of which they need to do so in a satisfying way for the audience since the main reason they wanted Toriyama involved since about 2008 or so was because they didn't want a repeat of GT where they made a series the writers weren't entirely happy with and a lot of the audience at the time & since don't perceive as very good because it was missing a lot of Toriyama's charm & creativity compared to what came before. And the only reason he did so, mind you, was because Dragon Ball Evolution was so bad & the producers of it disrespected him so much by not listening to his suggestions on how to improve the film that he took charge of writing Battle of Gods to show them up. Then, he legit grew a love for his old works while doing so. So much that we got over a decade of new DB content from him.

The video games are a separate issue where Bandai owns the license to creating DB video games & have had multiple games be very successful for them in the last 10 years because they've chosen to work with several companies that have put their own spins on DB for their video games & have appealed to different audiences beyond the usual fighting game crowds with some of them, which certainly breaks up the monotony of fighting games we got in the 2000s-2010s a bit & the staleness of having multiple games in the same series in favor of content additions & updates.
In terms of them getting post game content, Xenoverse 2 has had a mix of story content, PQs, & new characters, though many, I'm sure, would probably say that they got stagnant on said DLCs until the more recent story arc with Fu was introduced, which certainly pumped a shot of adrenaline in its arm. It's gotten the support it has because it was made to be a live service game & has done so pretty well for most of its playerbase. Although, there was clearly an endpoint before Bandai had them go back on that.
FighterZ only got characters, same as SZ, if you don't remember. The main difference being that the characters were 1 per DLC outside of the season passes & cost $5-$6 per character. However, this is done after the game getting a PS5 & Xbox Series X/S port.
Kakarot is an Action RPG & was only initially meant to have 3 DLCs under 1 season pass before Bandai greenlit another round of 3 DLCs to go along with the PS5 & Xbox Series X/S ports to pay for them giving that version away for free to previous owners of the game. And then did so again to capitalize on Daima's release.
Sparking Zero is the newest game in the franchise and may be being set up to be similar to Xenoverse 2 where they put out new DLCs & content updates several times a year or more like Kakarot where they see how the game's performing & what they could do with it to make some more money off of it, as it's cheaper to reuse assets & make smaller DLCs as opposed to full games & probably more profitable since they know a lot of people already have the games, so they may buy the DLCs to have something to play. What'll become of SZ after the 3rd wave of DLC is yet is to be seen. However, I think it may just end up like FighterZ where either that may be it, or it may get a second round of DLCs as well, then be done. IMO, Sparking Zero, unless they start doing story mode DLCs that add content that's both missing &/or could be added to the game, isn't made to last that long anyways, just like FighterZ. It's meant as a nostalgia trip for fans of the Budokai Tenkaichi games, refining the gameplay, prettying up the graphics, & being a way to play the anime with some twists & turns to spice things up like the what-ifs. It's like anime game junk food. And Bandai may not greenlight more DLCs after the 3rd pack releases. They may choose to focus their time & money on developing another game. We'll see when shit's announced.

The rights issues are a separate matter, where the various companies involved with DB & Toriyama's estate are having a bit of a tough time agreeing on things & some trying to muscle in on the action & overstepping their bounds now that Toriyama's dead. This is a thing I'm sure that Shueisha, Toei, & the other companies are trying to work out in Japan. However, unless something radical happens, it's not good to assume that these are anything to do with what's going on &, more than likely, there are other explanations.
Now, we aren't actually talking about anything on the Japanese side that has to do with rights issues. We're talking about the US side with English dubbing. As I said, there's currently a video game SAG strike, which is affecting the developments of a lot of games that weren't in production & had their voice acting recorded beforehand, or don't have their voice acting recorded in the US where SAG isn't a thing. This strike has been going on for months mainly because the majority of the voice actors don't want companies to use AI to duplicate their voices, especially not without expressed permission from them. And many non-union VAs are in agreement with this move & wanna support the SAG, as well as don't wanna ruin their future chances of joining the SAG if they want to later, as doing anything that goes against SAG without the ok from them would do that if they find out. This may also be why they haven't announced release dates for the next DLCs for Xenoverse 2 & Kakarot yet, as they probably haven't recorded the English dubs yet if this is the case. In my opinion, this is the most likely case, especially if the new & returning cast members who live in LA are more than likely SAG members & the rest don't wanna go against SAG even if they don't intend to join it in the future because of the whole AI thing. With Sparking Zero, since it's a fighting game that isn't adding story content, they may see the release of characters as not readily needing the English voices until the strike is over. At least, I hope they'll go back & patch them in when the strike ends.

I also don't buy the Daima English dub's weird delay in airing to be due to rights issues either. That's a Toei thing, as they got FUNimation to dub Resurrection F for release at the same time as in Japan, then for some reason didn't do a simuldub of Super, but then allowed FUNi again to dub Super: Broly for a theatrical release a month after it came out in Japanese cinemas. At the very least, we haven't had a situation where we had to wait a year & a half like we did with Super, though.

[Scsigs]

I must say, that how disappointed I am with the lack of stages and other content beside the new characters, I really enjoy them. Very well crafted and my god, I really love the Mini Vegeta!

Also, quite happy with how they resolved the update of Mini Goku. Even tho I got stuck for few minutes, trying to figure out why I can’t choose or transform into SSJ form, even going to check out the empty shop before reading release notes.

Bit sad that Goku just got slightly updated with comparison to Vegeta, makes it half the fun and half the possibility of being letdown to guess and see what characters will be released in the last DLC.
I had some hopes for at least one Tamagami and SSJ3 Goku and Majin Duu. Not sure about Pansy, another missed opportunity as they could’ve included her vigilante outfit like they did with Piccolo’s RR disguise.

Characters are mostly great and fun, but the lack of other content like accessories, costumes, at least 3! custom battles… Nada. I am not even hoping for a new stage anymore.
I don’t know, am I spoiled by other DB releases in recent years?

Looking forward to DLC 3, I hope it comes fast, hence I can transcend the time to get to Daima arc in Kakarot in summer.

Nah, you're not spoiled by other DB releases. A lot of us feel the same disappointment in that they're only adding characters as the DLCs. It's really confusing as to why only characters are being added. It's also contributing to the lack of returning players outside of the small amounts of players who actually play the game passed release or achievement hunting. I certainly don't give a shit to play this game for a while after I finished getting the last achievements I needed. The game gets boring after a while because of the lack of substantial content & frustrating because online battles are really badly balanced. Here's a video I just watched that breaks down how the game lost steam after launch. The guy sums it up pretty well.
https://youtu.be/2n17yabSmRM?si=xiticDF089vIrHDY

[Vegeta th3 4th]

You keep making statements on things you genuinely either know nothing about, or you haven't thought through entirely.

A producer gets upset at the higher ups of the company he works at, then somehow walks out with two-thirds of the rights to their biggest franchise. How on earth is anyone suppose to make sense of that ?

Don't quote the rules at me without recognizing when you may have also violated the rules at points.

I knew that would irritate you.

IMO, Sparking Zero, unless they start doing story mode DLCs that add content that's both missing &/or could be added to the game, isn't made to last that long anyways, just like FighterZ.

I was hoping it would basically be the next XV2 where it's supported for years, but that may not be the case unfortunately. I guess we'll see what happens once the final DLC pack is released this...September, I think ? I assume if they have any future plans, they'll announce them in December at Jump Festa.

There's currently a video game SAG strike, which is affecting the developments of a lot of games that weren't in production & had their voice acting recorded beforehand, or don't have their voice acting recorded in the US where SAG isn't a thing. In my opinion, this is the most likely case, especially if the new & returning cast members who live in LA are more than likely SAG members & the rest don't wanna go against SAG even if they don't intend to join it in the future because of the whole AI thing.

This explains so much now, thank you. I assume they can still dub the voices of the new characters and release them in a free patch once this is all cleared up, but considering how long the Hollywood strikes lasted, it could be awhile.

[Hellspawn28]

I think the long gaps between DLC is not good for the game. Not to mention, we don't get much new content besides characters and bonus battles. Where's some new story DLC? Like, seriously.

[Mr Baggins]

I can't say I particularly give a shit about story DLC; there's not much longevity to be had there. But more stages and modes would be nice.

[Scsigs]

I can't say I particularly give a shit about story DLC; there's not much longevity to be had there. But more stages and modes would be nice.

Story DLC gives more people more reason to return to the game after they stopped playing, especially if when there's not much to do after getting done with the base story modes &/or getting all the achievements. I personally have no incentive to return to the game for the foreseeable future just for characters. I don't even give a shit for how many stages & side modes there are. More would be nice, but the game just doesn't have the story mode content unlike, say, Xenoverse 2 or Kakarot.

[MCDaveG]

I think the long gaps between DLC is not good for the game. Not to mention, we don't get much new content besides characters and bonus battles. Where's some new story DLC? Like, seriously.

The last DLC was just characters and !exclusive! costume, that is just a set of one ultimate move for Goku Mini and his SSJ form...
No bonus missions, nothing. And we basically got just 4 new characters... Vegeta Mini, Glorio, Pansy and Kuu.
Even tho I enjoy the characters, I was more happy with Super Hero DLC and even that felt lackluster a bit.

I won't be surprised, if the support for the game ends with DLC3 and they will announce another game for this year, not related to SZ and come up with sequel in the meantime, that will have all those extra characters that were "missing" and more content and updates with 60+ dollar price tag ))))
Instead of improvement and support like the other games get. I have no idea, what is going on behind the scenes, but it is undeniable, that SZ is not receiving as much care, ongoing development and support from Spike Chunsoft as it could and probably should have.

[miguelnuva1]

So what did some of you players due to keep Tenkaichi 3 fun for so many years?

[Koitsukai]

I don't think there is much potential for a story or even bonus battles with these characters.

Like, what are you going to do with Panzy, Glorio, Kuu and Chibi Vegeta? aside of fan-created scenarios. Sure, they chose to add these cats, cats that cannot offer any Daima-faithful scenarios.

Hopefully, next DLC will include some battles where Goku and Vegeta run the gaunlet and face Glorio, the Tamagamis, Duu and eventually Gomah, switching your character accordingly. Of course, we can custom-battle that ourselves but not many people enjoy that mode nor have the time, it'd be nice to have some pre-programmed Daima fights already with the DLC. It's not like they are free DLCs, anyway.
Also, let's hope they aren't dull and frustrating bonus battles like those from the SH DLC.

I'm still naive enough to believe that eventually an only-stage DLC will come out, including the GT, DBS and Daima stages missing. Unlike XV2, these stages are more than just skins.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

So what did some of you players do to keep Tenkaichi 3 fun for so many years?

Tenkaichi 3 was actually a complete game; it wasn't lacking in every department like this game is.

[Mr Baggins]

Story DLC gives more people more reason to return to the game after they stopped playing

Nah, disagree. That's diminishing returns at best.

Some people might play the story DLC once for a few hours (if that) and then never touch it again. The totality of the base game's story is already pretty lengthy and did its replayability no favors. Kakarot is much better suited to this kind of thing than SZ.

For any fighting game, including arena fighters, the side modes are going to be the bread and butter of its single player replayability for the vast majority of its audience. I've gotten way more mileage out of custom battle alone than anything in the story mode.

[Koitsukai]

Story DLC gives more people more reason to return to the game after they stopped playing

Nah, disagree. That's diminishing returns at best.

Some people might play the story DLC once for a few hours (if that) and then never touch it again. The totality of the base game's story is already pretty lengthy and did its replayability no favors. Kakarot is much better suited to this kind of thing than SZ.

For any fighting game, including arena fighters, the side modes are going to be the bread and butter of its single player replayability for the vast majority of its audience. I've gotten way more mileage out of custom battle alone than anything in the story mode.

Definitely. It's been decades, but I can't remember re-playing the story mode of the TBs or RB at all. It was just a one-time thing, then you move on to the other modes. Maybe revisited the story mode after dropping the game for a long time, but that's pretty much it.